Katharine Beutner's Blog, page 15
February 28, 2010
Giveaway reminder, and an amazing review
A final reminder about the giveaway contest being run by Wonders & Marvels — the deadline for entering to win a copy is today, Sunday, February 28.
Yesterday, my day was made by this stunning and thoughtful review of the book, which places Alcestis in the context of Mary Renault's historical fiction. I can't claim that my writing has been very directly shaped by Renault's work — I've only ever read The Persian Boy — but I'm honored by the notion that Alcestis offers a similar reading...
February 26, 2010
Wonders & Marvels 'Alcestis' giveaway
The fabulous historical blog Wonders & Marvels is giving away four copies of Alcestis! The deadline for entering to win a copy is this Sunday, February 28. To enter, visit the blog post linked above and post an answer to the following question as a comment:
What little-known character in history deserves to be in the spotlight and have his or her story told?
There are some great responses in the comments already. I would love to read a novel about Alcibiades and Socrates. I think some of the ...
February 24, 2010
Signed copy of 'Alcestis'
I'm offering a signed copy of Alcestis in the Con or Bust auction being run by the Carl Brandon Society. The money raised in this auction is available to fans of color who request assistance in order to attend Wiscon, the feminist SF convention held annually in Madison, Wisconsin. (I'll be going for the first time this year!)
And some links!
A great essay on modulating your responses when writing critiques.Urban legends from Meiji-period Japan.And something very close to my heart: Austin's No...February 22, 2010
Two good lists from the Seattle Times
Mary Ann Gwinn of the Seattle Times asked historical fiction readers to name their favorites, and got so many replies that she's been reporting their responses in installments:
Part I deals with historical novels set in the US, and mentions Nancy Horan's Loving Frank, which is about my distant relative, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. I'm definitely interested in Russell Banks's Cloudsplitter, too, though I really didn't like the film version of The Sweet Hereafter (I should try the book some time, I...February 21, 2010
Weekend roundup: HNR, arsenic, and a cough
Lessons I have recently learned: when people say that you should only go running while sick if your illness is above the neck, they're not kidding. I went for a short run on Friday and my lungs are still in revolt. (I apologize to everybody who had to listen to me cough my way through part of a panel at the Harrington symposium at UT yesterday!)
In nicer news, I recently received my first copy of the Historical Novels Review, the review publication of the Historical Novel Society. The...
February 19, 2010
What I loved about 'The Hunger Games'
I have a cold. It's not the worst cold I've ever had — I think that honor goes to the one I got right before going to NYC with other Smith seniors during my last year of college, when I was dizzy for days and couldn't hear correctly out of either ear for about a week. This one's just your average bad cold. But it's been about two years since I had a cold, and I forgot how dopey they make me. Wednesday I finally gave up on trying to work and read Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games on my...
February 16, 2010
Book launch party video
I've just uploaded the video Travis recorded at my book launch party to Vimeo, so you can now watch and listen as I read the prologue to Alcestis and talk a bit about the content of the book. Feel free to share this video, too!
ALCESTIS reading — Katharine Beutner from Katharine Beutner on Vimeo.
Archaeology and titles
A few links for today — I hope to be back later with video from the book launch party, too, assuming I'm capable of figuring out iMovie for the first time while suffering from cold-induced stupidity.
First, a story about ancient stone tools discovered on the coast of Crete — on a section of shore covered in soil deposited 100,000 to 190,000 years ago. The tools themselves may be as old as 700,000 years. Previously, the oldest stone tools on Crete were around 10-20,000 years old, so if the...
February 14, 2010
Those kids and their free culture
Things I am really tired of seeing knee-jerk GET OFF MY LAWN responses to from authors:
The Times article about the German novelist who "remixed" (her word) or "plagiarized" (lots and lots of outraged posts) a novel published by another German writer, in a novel about remix culture. Do I think she should have credited the first writer if she wanted to remix his material? Absolutely. Do I think she should have asked him first? Probably, but it depends on how much material she actually lifted —...February 12, 2010
Links and news
It's a bullet-point kind of day, I'm afraid. First up, Alcestis news!
Earlier this week, I was interviewed by Kate Ergenbright of UT's newspaper, the Daily Texan .Photos from the book launch party are here, in case you missed them.Don't forget about the AuthorBuzz giveaway of five signed copies of the book: details here.I linked this guest post I wrote for Wonders & Marvels last weekend, but it may have gotten buried. If you're curious about how I decided to afflict poor Hippothoe with asthma...
